JOHN RAUL JONES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 245, 13 September 1935, Page 12

JOHN RAUL JONES

FOUNDER OF U.S. NAVY. MEMORY HONOURED. On July 4 France and America united in Paris in honouring the memory of John Paul Jones, first admiral and founder of the United States Navy. In a simple but sincerely impressive ceremony in one of the poorer quarters of Paris, representatives of the two nations unveiled a bronze tablet on the site where the gallant commander of the Bonhommo Richard was laid at rest. Captain Toutant Beauregard, United States Naval Attache in Paris, and Admiral Lncien Lacaze, former French Minister of Marine, represented the American and French, navies at the ceremony which was significantly Protestant in character. HUGNENOT SPOONSORSHIP. The tablet was erected under the auspices of the Huguenot Society and of American and associated French Protestant organisations. William Clearwater, representative of the Huguenot Society, delivered the principal address, recalling that “it was in a French harbour that John Paul Jones as a captain of the Yankee sloop Ranger received on February 13, 1778. the first salute ever fired by a foreign nation in recognition of the American flag.” While this simple ceremony was taking place in the proletarian outskirts of Paris, the Place de la Concorde was the scene of another celebration. General John J. Pershing unveiled a bronze plaque on the building, formerly the old Hotel de Coislin and now occupied by an American bank, where the first Franeo-American treaty of trade and friendship was signed on February 6, 1778. The marble tablet which Paris accepts from interested Frenchmen and Americans is designed to perpetuate the memory of one whose colourful career not alone established respect for the United States naval power, but likewise linked France and America in bonds of friendship. EPISODES RECALLED.

Discovery of John Paul Jones’s grave —in what was the tiny cemetery for foreign-born Protestants in Paris —after revolution, riot, catastrophe, the slow encroachment of a restless city, had passed over it; belated recognition by official America of the service John Paul Jones had rendered his flag; removal of his remains in 1905 to a dignified resting place at Annapolis 113 years after their interment; growing appreciation of the great sea captain’s worth, as tradition brushes up the high spots of a long list of adventures and achievements. These constitute some of the episodes in a narrative that grows epic as time’s perspective brings into focus details of this dramatic career, says the Christian Science Monitor. No fictionising is needed to vitalise the figure of John Paul Jones. He comes striding through the welter of sea spray., booming cannon and splintering masts, an erect, dominant individual, dressed in a three-cornered hat. blue coat with red facings, slashed cuffs, stock collar with lace ruffles—a very smart and dandified figure of a man —snapping out orders in a voice which demands obedience, snapping out repartee which echoes yet: “I will not have anything to do with ships which do not sail fast, ior I intend to go in harm’s way.”

‘HAVE YOU STRUCK?”

“Do I understand that you have .struck?” exults the captain of the Serapis which had battered the Bonhonime Richard to a sinking condition. “‘No 1” re-echoes the reply, “1 have just begun to fight!” John Paul was born July 6. 1747. the son of a gardener in Ivirkbean, Scotland, on the shore of the Solway. He early apprenticed himself to the sea, studied assiduously, qualified himself for duty in the mercantile ser- \ ice, was engaged for a time in tlie slave trade, but sickening of ' that, found employment in the DYest India trade, and ill 1773 settled for a time in Virginia, where he added the name “Jones” to tlie original John Paul. "When, in 1775. the infant' navy o! the United States was instituted. John Paul Jones was named the first of tin first lieutenants in the service. Sta tioned on the flagship Alfred, lie claimed the distinction of being the first to raise tlie new American flag—an adaptation of the coiled snake and “Don’t tread on me” sentiment, lie gained his first laurels, however. a> commander of the sloop With the rank of captain, ho sailed forth to harass the British commercia. interests, transport American troops convoy friendly merchantmen, -and otherwise make the young navy. felt. CAPTURES PRIZES.

Given command of the Alfred ant' other vessels, he took many importam prizes, but was rewarded for his brilliant seamanship by having his sen iority in the service sel aside. Tin keenness and efficiency he revealed in his protest attracted the attention ol Robert Morris, whose friendship stood the young naval officer in good stead. Jones was chosen to be sent to France to take command of a frigate to be supplied by the Commissioners of Paris. But on June 14, 1777, we discover him hoisting the new Stars and Stripes on the Portsmouth-built Ranger. On April 10 1778. he is cruising in British waters. Thereafter we hear of him enpturiim a brigantine and a London ship off Ireland; deterred from various bold adventures on the Irish coast only by contrary winds and tides : setting fire tr a merchantman at Whitehaven and holding the whole town at bay while he makes his escape; making a foray cm the Earl of Selkirk’s seat near Kirkcudbright and then writing m exoeedinglv florid terms to Lady Selkirk apologising for taking my lords plate; meeting His Majesty’s sloop-of-war Drake that was putting out to capture tbe Ranger and ending by bringing the Drake as prize of war into the harbour at Brest. DEFEATS SEP APIS.

Then follow numerous exploits in the Bon Homme Richard in European waters ending with the capture ot the Scrnnis and a triumphant return to Franco, after having been toreed to seek sanctuary for his prizes in lloi--1,1 Jones came back to America in 1780, but seven rears later returned to France with the intention of serving under Louis. He was met, however, with a proposal to enter the service ot Catherine of Russia. It was not a veiy successful enterprise. His talents weie not such as fitted him for the intrigues of the Russian Court. Alter lo months of bickering he returned again to lans. His last hope of honourable employment of his genius was fixed on an enteipnse of ransoming American sailors imprisoned at Algiers; but before the commission could reach him from America lie had passed on at what is now No. LI Rue de Tournon in Paris. Clasped in his liand was a little watch, a gift ol Duel)esse de Chartres, with which he had been wont to time Ins sea battles. John Paul Jones, the gardener s son, proved his genius by industry; Ins idiosyncrasies though many were never allowed to affect his efficiency as an officer and a patriot. Though sometimes foppish in dress and flamboyant

in speech ho expressed the virtues of naturalness and generosity. A GOOD SEAMAN. He is pictured as a good seaman; a most able officer, sagacious in the application of means; something of a poet; remarkable for the quickness and vivacity of his imagination which led him to plan nobly; an accomplished writer—a man found worthy of the warm friendship of Benjamin Franklin, who seeking for excellence was nevertheless able to show compassion toward human infirmity. Especial significance is attached to the fact that Admiral John Paul Jones has . become more than a national hero. That figure which stalks the quarterdeck now belongs to the world. It may have taken a Frenchman to see the man beyond the trappings; to write: “Such men rarely present themselves, but when heaven sends them, we should profit by them” ; but the bright flame of John Paul Jones’s courage is accepted to-day as a beacon for many who would pursue their lodestar unafraid.